One other thing, is it possible that some versions of the case have a power supply that pulls air up from inside the case? The reason I ask is that I actually don't feel any air blowing by the fan by off the back of the power supply I feel hot air coming out. I think most PSUs that I've used in past builds have all been like this.

In this case, I'll probably try using the case fan as intake first.

In case you're interested, with the stock PSU, i3-2100, and Silverstone NT07, my stock temps are hovering just above 50 degrees Celsius according to Speedfan. I'll have to see what adding the case fan does to it.

All fine and dandy till heat destroy's it. I mean what is the point here, cram as much as you can into a small box and see what happens? Far from my idea of a stable quite and cool HTPC.

Heat? He's already posted screen shots and the system is running quite cool. Throwing all those drives in there wasn't the route I went with my HTPC, but just because it's not for you doesn't mean this build isn't quiet/cool.

Glad to hear the system is working out for you, assassin! This forum is great for people doing new things. My build is boring but at least I can live vicariously through you

Yesterday the HTPC was making a slight clicking noise. I opened the case and discovered that the 120mm fan had shifted ever so slightly and one of the blades was just nicking the frame of the fan. So I repositioned it and the clicking went away. I left one of the cover screws completely out (1 out of the 4) and the clicking has gone away completely.

A very very minor problem but just wanted to fully disclose.

Otherwise the build is plugging away like a champ. No other issues at all and temps are still in the 40 C range. Its still extremely quiet and just barely audible in a completely silent room.

The most I've seen my mATX H61 setup (i3-2100, 64GB SSD, 320GB HDD, Blu-ray ROM, tuner card, 2GB DDR3, Antec EA-380D PSU) is under 60W and that was at full-load. I would think an H67 setup would be similiar and well under 120W.

I made a plate for myself with a 60mm fan mounted on the plate. However, I also have that same 120mm so I might give that a try. Not that there's anything wrong with the 60mm fan or temps but I'd like to try it, especially since my 120mm fan is PWM and it'd be one less thing connected to the picoPSU (less messy wiring).

I made a plate for myself with a 60mm fan mounted on the plate. However, I also have that same 120mm so I might give that a try. Not that there's anything wrong with the 60mm fan or temps but I'd like to try it, especially since my 120mm fan is PWM and it'd be one less thing connected to the picoPSU (less messy wiring).

I left the 120mm fan out.

So I just have the 80mm fan pushing air in.

When I had both connected they were connected to the motherboard chassis fan header via a splitter.

Today I received my CoolerMaster Hyper 101 and I was able to continue my experiment. I think I can safely say that there is no one else on earth that has a HTPC quite like mine.

The first thing I did of course was remove the stock Intel 2100 CPU cooler and compare it to my new cooler. Here you can see the old and the new.

Here is a shot of the CPU all cleaned up and ready for its new cooler.

Here you can see the major problem that I ran into. The copper pegs of the CPU cooler were too tall. If I could remove these it would fit perfectly.

After uninstalling the CPU cooler from the motherboard and taking a hacksaw to it I was able to make a new custom cooler. Do not try this at home! Please also note that this likely destroys your heatpipe and possibly can damage your CPU. As I am not afraid to experiment I thought I would give this a try.

Now you can see how well this fits in the case. Not much wiggle room and the support bar from the case applies pressure to the fan ever so slightly but not enough to really stress the motherboard. I wish there was just a little bit of room between the cooler and the case cover.

A few more view of everything installed.

A now some Kill-a-Watt readings with the PICO PSU and my new CPU cooler in place.

At idle on Windows Desktop (27 watts!!!)

While playing 1080p Wall-E non-compressed Bluray MKV (33 watts)

While sleeping (2 watts)

Temps have been in the 40-45 C range. I started playing Wall-E and left it going while typing this and the temperature is now around 50 C. I think these will drop a few degrees once the Arctic Silver settles in.

Also as you probably noticed I am using a Noctua 80mm fan on the Hyper 101 CPU cooler. I am using the Low Noise adapter and running the fan at 1300RPM although I can't hear the damn thing at all and I am thinking about running it at the stock 1800RPM to decrease the temps a few degrees.

This thing is quiet. I think my experiment is almost done. And I still have room for TWO more hard drives!!!!!!!!

Well as you all have shown me this didn't work. CPU temps were at 60C and climbing so I shut it down and re-installed the Intel CPU cooler (which was working perfectly fine by the way). Temps are now at 35C at idle and everything is as quiet as before.

That was a fun experiment. So know that just because this case is 5.1" tall and this heatsink is 4.5" tall it will not fit. They do not measure the height of the caps with that 4.5" and that is the dealbreaker. Also don't cut your heatpipes as this makes the whole cooler worthless (or at least much less effective).

So I am back to my Frankenstein of a HTPC build. I will keep experimenting though. That is what is fun.

I've been trying to take pictures of my build, that is very similar to this one, but I didn't have anytime yet. I'm dealing with a very loud CPU fan and I found myself using the Asrock utility all the time to lower the speed of it but after a while it goes back to the full speed. Do you have the same issue? That and an undervolted Panaflo are the only fans in my build. What are the ideal temperatures for this case?